1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to an ice making machine and particularly to an ice maker of such a type in which an ice making machinery section thereof is disposed on an ice storage section in which ice produced by the ice making machinery section is stored.
2. Prior Art
In the hitherto known ice making machine of the above-mentioned type, as illustrated in FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings, the upper machinery section includes a bottom plate 6, which is provided underneath a platform or base plate 5 and serves as the ceiling wall of the ice storage bin of the lower ice storage section. The base plate 5 is adapted to support the ice making mechanical elements including a refrigeration system (not shown). By the provision of such a dual-plate structure, both heat insulation of the ice storage bin and prevention of dust deposition therein can be realized. An ice discharge chute 3 which is a member in the upper machinery section is fitted into an opening 5b formed in the base plate 5 and an opening 6b of the bottom plate 6, wherein the ice discharge chute 3 is supported on the base plate 5 at a radially enlarged bulge portion 3d of the chute 3 by simply disposing it on the base plate 5 or by bonding. A gasket 7 is mounted around the opening 6b of the bottom plate 6 for hermetically closing a gap which would otherwise appear between the outer cylindrical surface 3c of the lower end portion 3b of the ice discharge chute 3 and the opening 6b of the bottom plate 6, in order to prevent leakage of cool air from and invasion of dust into the ice storage bin.
In the above machine, the opening 6b formed in the bottom plate 6 and the bottom end of the ice discharge chute 3 are positioned on the same plane in a state ready for the ice making operation after assembly. As a result, although a major portion of water droplets produced within the ice discharge chute 3 due to melting of ice particles or for other reasons drops through the bottom end 3b of the ice discharge pipe 3 into the ice storage bin, the remaining part of the water droplets may move along the lower surface 6a of the bottom plate 6, i.e. the ceiling wall of the ice storage bin after crossing the gasket 7 (refer to an arrow 11 in FIG. 3). When the droplets on the ceiling wall of the ice storage bin evaporate, traces are formed on the ceiling wall due to deposition of impurities contained in the water droplets, which are unsanitary in appearance. It should be noted that ice formed of water containing a greater amount of impurities is inherently easier to melt.
The above disadvantage can certainly be eliminated by extending the ice discharge chute 3 to such an extent that the bottom end 3b thereof projects below the bottom plate 6 to thereby prevent the water droplets from migrating or propagating onto the lower surface 6a of the bottom plate 6. In that case, however, a downwardly projecting portion is formed on the lower surface of the bottom plate 6 of the machinery section. It is to be noted that for an ice making machine having an ice making machinery section disposed on the ice storage section, the ice making machinery section incorporating therein the ice discharge chute 3 is commonly packed separately from the ice storage section for convenience during transportation to a required location. Thus, the presence of the downwardly projecting portion makes the packing of the ice making machinery section troublesome. Further, precautions must be taken so that the projecting portion is not damaged during transportation, which is clearly undesirable.